A Marvelous Summer Indeed!

How does one measure a marvelous summer?

(That’s a little sad, isn’t it?) Even I was type this, I recognize that it seems rigid. Just a tad…

The very idea of summer break should be frivolity with days of sand, sun, fun and play. However, I have found that if I do not plan for “play,” I have a tendency to waste my days.

And… while Hallmark movies and an endless TBR book stack are great things, I miss out on other experiences. (Not to mention the fact, that my inactivity and my nibbling sabotage any semblance of weight loss I achieved during the school year.)

Checking things off fills me with an indescribable joy…

In complete transparency, the one goal I will not meet is my reading goal of twenty-five books. I have read ALL summer, but much of my reading cannot be measured in completed books, necessarily. There have been several books I have given myself permission to close after the first forty pages, a task I still find difficult as an adult.

I am not a quitter.

But…life is too short to waste on boring books. Truth…Amen.

So now I am at one week.

One fleeting week…

My summer is ebbing like the ocean tide, and I feel like a child with scant change and one ride ticket left in my pocket near the end of a wildly wonderful day at an amusement park.

The need to cram just a few more activities into my waning break is nagging at me today.

Is this what a Philippians 4:8 life looks like? a check list?

Probably not, but I seem to want to wrangle and corral most of my life onto a tamed, controlled list.

It doesn’t always fit. Honestly, it rarely fits…ever,

and at the end of the day, that’s fine.

When I think about my marvelous summer,

it will be remembered because it was spectacularly about my family and my friends.

They were not specific items on my list, but they were there.

There was a beach trip…

with Hadasah, and it WAS spectacular! We had our little princess all to ourselves for several days. No words can fully describe what Bear and I experienced as we swam and played in the waves, the sand and the sun with our grand-joy! This time with her is something we had dreamed about while they lived in South Korea. What an amazing gift! We are thankful grands…

There was a glorious trip to Colorado…

a week of exploration and mountain beauty with our youngest son, Josh. And it WAS an unbelievable week. I will carry memories made during that week to my last breath…exquisite beauty in nature and some of the sweetest moments we have ever had with our youngest man-cub.

There were days spent with friends in the mountains… where we talked for hours, rambled through quaint towns with cute little shops and tasted local faire… relaxing…

This was my summer.

However, there were other moments not on my paper list…

My pre-dawn hours of quiet time, prayer and Bible study that ground and equip me…

Random last minute excursions with Bear…

Late night summer suppers and the aroma of grill smoke.

Weathering summer thunderstorms on the back porch sofa with a chocolate lab in my lap and my sweet man by my side…

The joy of watching lightning bugs and experiencing a symphony of crickets and frogs with twinkle lights overhead…

No…these may not be goal or list worthy exploits, but these little snippets of days make my journey…our journeys worth taking and sharing with others.

Let’s be intentional with our play…

Life is fast, furious and all together unfair at times. Exhaustion and heartache are far too common for each of us.

So… when we are able…

let’s choose to be deliberate with our Philippians 4:8 “whatevers”…

Let’s build lives that look for and desire the lovely, the admirable, and the praiseworthy, not only in the way we live, but in the way we live with others.

If we are not intentional in our days and with our people, it is painfully easy to be swept up in all that is hard and ugly in our day-to-day…

I want to fill the cracks of my days and my life with the lovely “whatevers”…